A stupendous blend of what I'd want in a werewolf movie. The effects are great and the gore is plentiful. That is courtesy of Robert Kurtzman. One of my favorite aspects of some werewolf movies however, is a mystery factor. The story of this film works for me in both ways in terms of character and mystery. Having a werewolf film be merged with the old veteran living in a retirement community blends well with a werewolf film. SILVER BULLET, my favorite werewolf film, has a great mystery of trying to find out which person the werewolf is. That is central to the plot of this film. Nick Damici, a screenwriter taking a turn at acting in this film is tremendous. This is a role you could easily have seen Charles Bronson playing back in the day and Damici nails the tough old man character.
Synopsis: A secluded retirement community is plagued by mysterious and deadly attacks until a grizzled war veteran moves in, rallies the residents, and discovers a beast is behind the killings.
The film establishes early on that Ambrose (Nick Damici) does not have a good relationship with his son Will (Ethan Embry). Will is also blind, he has a seeing eye dog named Shadow, a German Shepherd. It is also established early on that Will is a veteran and has a cantankerous manner. Many of the women in his retirement community find his attitude unpleasant. I was happy to see actresses like Rutanya Alda, Caitlin O'Heaney, Tina Louise, and Karen Lynn Gorney playing some of the older women in this film.
I was delighted to see Caitlin O'Heaney in this film playing Anne. She played the final girl in HE KNOWS YOU'RE ALONE.
Ambrose makes friends with his neighbor Delores (Karen Lynn Gorney) upon arriving at his new home. One night Delores is attacked by a creature and disemboweled. Shadow then fights with the creature and is mortally wounded. Ambrose gets to his gun but is never able to fire a shot after the creature breaks through his window. The police chalk this up to a random animal attack, Ambrose however has something else in mind. Something I like is that Ambrose immediately thinks this is a werewolf with no questions asked. The police talk to him about how they get calls there once a month, and the community is on the edge of town near the woods. Anne (Erin Cummings), Will's fiance also says it was a full moon that night. Another thing I like about that first werewolf attack scene is the characterization and cinematography. The film makes you feel sympathy for Delores as she talks on the phone with her daughter, Victoria. Victoria cancels one of the meet ups, it is implied this has happened more than once. You see the werewolf in the shadows and eventually it starts trying to break in. In the fight with Shadow, that scene is also shot in the shadows a lot, though you do get to see the wolf a little bit early on.
A look at the werewolves you can see in this film
Ambrose starts investigating the community. He remembers the werewolf's wheeze and suspects a few different people. Gloria's (Rutanya Alda) husband has an iron lung, and the local priest Father Roger (Tom Noonan) smokes a lot. James Griffin (Lance Guest), a friend of the priest, has asthma. I like this aspect to the film because it encompasses much of the next hour or so. Ambrose starts timing his steps around the house to get ready for another attack. The film is helped by dramatic scenes that reveal Ambrose's past. He had to kill a young boy in the Vietnam War who had grenades strapped to his chest. The injuries Ambrose sustained in the war lead to his eventual blindness. He does talk to Father Roger about how during that time he changed as a man, resulting in his strained relationship with Will. The talks that Father Roger and Ambrose have are some of the best moments in the film as Damici and Noonan work really well together. Ambrose also wants to get a headstone to bury Shadow; he has kept Shadow's body out in the meantime, in the month leading up to the full moon. The smell annoys his neighbors and the local police who begin to worry about Ambrose's safety.
The always creepy yet affable Tom Noonan as Father Roger
SPOILER SECTION
Ambrose eventually goes to get silver bullets made at a gun store. During this time he figures out the mystery. James had also gotten a silver bullet made. James is still wounded from the attacks at the hands of Shadow. James had been bitten by the last werewolf right before he killed it. The night of the full moon he goes around attacking members of the community and turning many of them into werewolves. Ambrose leaves a message for Will apologizing to him and telling him good luck with his wife and kid, as Anne is pregnant. Ambrose eventually puts in hearing aids to help him use his sense of hearing against the werewolves. He uses his rifle to kill one of them, he kills two with his revolver, and one with his shotgun. He eventually fights James outside of his house and kills him with a shovel. He eventually succumbs to his wounds, and it is revealed he died of an overdose from his medication which will prevent him from turning fully into a werewolf. Will finds him and we see Will firing off Ambrose's rifle at his funeral as the film ends.
Great mystery, interesting characters and dialogue, especially in the scenes between Damici and Noonan. Great werewolf makeup effects and gore effects, courtesy of Robert Kurtzman. Combine that with some levity, mostly in the script but also due to Damici's performance. Him using a shovel as a cane is funny. Him almost turning off Gloria's husband's iron lung is hilarious. You almost wonder if he did that intentionally or not. All the supporting cast, especially Noonan, Guest, and Embry add more credibility and gravitas to their parts. This is my favorite werewolf film since Dog Soldiers.
Rating: 9/10
Trivia: As Ambrose states at one point in the film it is in fact legal for blind people to own guns in the United States. Disabled Americans have rights to the second amendment.
Gun of the movie: The revolver Ambrose uses is a Smith and Wesson Model 64 revolver chambered in .38 special. https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Late_Phases
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